COMMISSION 
AGENDA MEMORANDUM                        Item No.          8k 
ACTION ITEM                            Date of Meeting      August 10, 2021 

DATE:     August 3, 2021 
TO:        Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director 
FROM:    Dave Soike, Chief Operating Officer 
Nora Huey, Director, Central Procurement Office 
SUBJECT:  Procurement Consulting Support Services 
Amount of this request:                       $0 
Total estimated project cost:            $450,000 
ACTION REQUESTED 
Request Commission determination that a competitive process in not reasonable or cost
effective in accordance with Chapter 53.19 RCW; and Authorization for the Executive Director
to execute an agreement for Procurement Consulting Support Services, with The Le Flore
Group, in the amount not to exceed $450,000, for a contract period of one year, to Assist with
contracting  processes  including  Opportunities  Youth  Initiative  procurement(s),  Economic
Recovery, and for recommendations for improvements to community engagement (grant/nonprofit
) processes. 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
This request for near-term procurement consulting support comes at a time when the Port
needs to exert itself as a regional economic engine for recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Central Procurement Office (CPO) workload has risen   capital procurements have
increased both in number and complexity; purchasing of goods have increased due to buying
supplies necessary to safely support COVID-19 recovery efforts and gateway operations; and
service contracts have increased in value and complexity to support portwide and Commission 
requests. This all occurred at a time when full-time employee (FTE) growth was paused when
the pandemic hit to ensure financial viability of the Port, where staffing backfills were carefully
scrutinized, and in some cases, delayed. 
As a result, CPO does not have the resources to support the growing volume of work. This is an
immediate strategy to course correct CPO staffing so that the Port can execute contracts to aid
hurting communities and accelerate wider economic recovery. The anticipated cost is $450,000
for a period of one year to assist CPO with contracting processes including Opportunities Youth
Initiative procurement(s), economic recovery, and recommended improvements to community
engagement (grant/non-profit) processes. This is an unbudgeted operational expense. 

Template revised January 10, 2019.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Action Item No. _8k___                              Page 2 of 5 
Meeting Date: August 10, 2021 

JUSTIFICATION 
This request supports the following Century Agenda and Executive Director's strategic goals: 
(1)     Increase career and business opportunities for local communities in all portrelated
industries. 
(2)      Advance regional workforce development in port-related industries to provide
equitable access to quality Port careers 
The Commission saw the need to bolster economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and
has responded mightily by asking Port staff to ramp up and deliver various recovery programs
to a hurting community  which needs continued expedited help. We need to simultaneously
deliver the systems and improve the process within legal parameters. 
In the last two years, it has been necessary for the Port to support disparately affected
communities and to support economic recovery to help the region climb out of the negative
effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. These efforts align directly with the mission of the Port. As a
result of Commission efforts in this regard, the City of Seattle (City) anticipates forwarding a
portion of their funding to the Port to bolster recovery efforts. Part of the reasoning by the City
is the Port could launch their recovery dollars into the communities faster. These efforts are
being led by the Office of Equity Diversity and Inclusion (OEDI), in partnership and support from
CPO, Legal, External Relations, and Economic Development divisions. 
These multi-departmental teams have been meeting to establish lessons learned from previous
economic recovery procurements. Meanwhile, the volume of this type of work has not been
static,  rather  we  are  seeing  continuing  and  growing  interest  from  Commission.  This  all
translates into more support from various departments like CPO that strongly supports OEDI
thru: design, scope, advertisements, outreach listening sessions, evaluation of responses from
community entities, managing conflict of interests, shortlisting, interviewing and evaluation of
proposers, contracting with winners, and monitoring progress  all in concert with OEDI. These
are not quick parallel steps; they are successive steps in very complex evaluative procurements.
Staff  is  recommending  leveraging  the  use  of  a  knowledgeable  consultant  to  provide
improvement and efficiency suggestions,  as they help us work through the immediate
workload. 
Staff is requesting the Commission to determine a competitive procurement process is not
reasonable or cost effective in accordance with Chapter 53.19 RCW for the following reasons: 
(1) King County residents continue to experience economic setbacks due to COVID-19,
such as food insecurity, homelessness,  and unemployment.   Commissioners
recognize the urgency to distribute and fund programs like youth opportunities for

Template revised June 27, 2019 (Diversity in Contracting).

COMMISSION AGENDA  Action Item No. _8k___                              Page 3 of 5 
Meeting Date: August 10, 2021 

economic recovery. This will allow our youth to continue to participate in workforce
development programs with a pipeline to Port-related industries.
(2) The 16-24 age group continues to experience economic instability due to the
pandemic (per King County data). 
(3) Advertise OYI procurement and other recovery opportunities faster during a time 
where new COVID variants are occurring which may impact recovery efforts in the
near term. 
Staff will negotiate a fair and reasonable cost upon approval of this action. 
Diversity in Contracting 
The Le Flore Group is a self-declared Disadvantaged/Minority-owned business. 
DETAILS 
This effort will support CPO in procuring upcoming OYI services and other economic recovery
programs along with assess our community engagement processes, which includes grant and
non-profit services.   The Port will retain an external consult who is familiar with the
procurement processes and can team with staff under a supervisor on this complex
procurement effort for the time necessary as CPO, in partnership with Human Resources (HRD),
recruits for its various full-time employee vacancies for the remainder of the year and into next
year.  The anticipated expense budget is estimated at $250,000 in 2021 with the remaining
$200,000 in 2022. 
Scope of Work 
The  scope of this consultant is  two-fold: provide staff to push our work forward while
simultaneously making recommendations to improve the Port process to be efficient in our
work with community engagement sector (non-profits and firms in the equity field). The scope
includes,  but  not  limited  to,  solicitation  development,  proposal  evaluation,  selection, 
negotiation,  and  award.   It  will  also  include  assessing,  recommending,  and  presenting
community engagement process improvements. 
Schedule 
We anticipate executing this agreement for procurement support in late August. Procurement
schedules will be negotiated during the contract term as the OYI program and other economic
recovery programs are still under evaluation.
ALTERNATIVES AND IMPLICATIONS CONSIDERED 
Maintaining  the status quo is a barrier for the Port  to continue its necessary public
procurement work to support Commission-driven initiatives for economic recovery.  COVID
variants are ever evolving with many unknown impacts, so the Port must position itself to

Template revised June 27, 2019 (Diversity in Contracting).

COMMISSION AGENDA  Action Item No. _8k___                              Page 4 of 5 
Meeting Date: August 10, 2021 

award funds to organizations supporting community youth which continue to experience
economic insecurity in a fast and efficient manner. 
Alternative 1  Competitively procure Procurement Consulting Support Services. 
Cost Implications: $450,000 
Pros: 
(1)   Open and full competitive public procurement process. 
Cons: 
(1)   This will delay in procuring OYI services in partnership with the City of Seattle and
other economic recovery programs without prioritization of other complex, high
profile procurements due to CPO staffing constraints. 
(2)   Advertisement of OYI services in 2022 which delays awarding contracts to our youth in
distressed communities impacted by COVID. 
(3)   COVID variants are constantly changing with unknown impacts to the economy in the
near future. 
This is not the recommended alternative. 
Alternative 2  Commissioners determine a competitive process is not reasonable or cost
effective, in accordance with Chapter 53.19 RCW, and enter into an agreement with The Le
Flore Group for procurement consulting support services for OYI/ Economic Recovery. 
Cost Implications: $450,000 
Pros: 
(1)   The  consulting  firm,  a  self-certified  Disadvantage/  Minority-owned  business,  has
substantial knowledge of managing complicated non-profit consulting procurement
processes and will be able to be successful quickly. 
(2)   This is the fastest way to get an expert and high level of experience onto the team to
be able to rapidly deliver these recovery funding efforts into the Community. 
(3)   Provide an immediate "stop-gap" measure to address current urgent need to aid
regional recovery and equity. 
(4)   Develop a faster and efficient process within our legal procurement constraints.
Cons: 
(1)   Unbudgeted CPO operational budget expense. 
This is the recommended alternative. 
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 
This is unbudgeted CPO operation expense. Staff anticipates expending $250,000 in 2021. Staff
will request the remaining $200,000 during the 2022 budget process. 

Template revised June 27, 2019 (Diversity in Contracting).

COMMISSION AGENDA  Action Item No. _8k___                              Page 5 of 5 
Meeting Date: August 10, 2021 

Cost Estimate/Authorization Summary              Capital        Expense           Total 
COST ESTIMATE 
Original estimate                                          $0        $450,000        $450,000 
AUTHORIZATION 
Previous authorizations                                    0                0                0 
Current request for authorization                          0                0                0 
Total authorizations, including this request                  0                0                0 
Remaining amount to be authorized                    $0             $0             $0 
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND 
None. 
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS REQUEST 
None. 
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS 
None. 









Template revised June 27, 2019 (Diversity in Contracting).